Will You Ever Be Taken Seriously? – (Articles on GIBS campus, July)

“Mental conditioning. A key factor to conveying confidence is first believing that you belong. . . . “What would be lost if you were not at the table?”

Technical conditioning. Feeling intimidated by more senior individuals often leads to one of two outcomes: either you overcompensate by aggressively advocating your point of view and emphasizing your accomplishments or you undermine yourself by hesitating in your responses and acquiescing to others. Needless to say, neither is an effective strategy. . To overcome these blunders, you must technically prepare yourself by mastering basic communication techniques. Chief among these techniques is the ability to helicopter up and to speak from the executives’ perspective, taking into account their issues, agenda, and upcoming decisions. Another is the ability to communicate value in terms of what you bring to the table and the results of your work (rather than the process).

Physical conditioning. Which of your physical attributes negatively impacts your executive presence? The culprits are often dress, voice, and posture.”